Safety life-guard attachment for cars.



F. HEDLEY 8L I. S. DOYLE.

SAFETY LIFE GUARD ATTACHMENT FOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. |913. Patented Jan. 2, 4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

I--- -I r.; i.

n l l I I l mr Noam: rsu-ns ca.. rmzmumo. wnsnmcmu. A e

F. HEDLEY & J. S. DOYLE.

SAFETY LIFE GUARD ATTACHMENT FOR CARS.

APPucArloN FILED MM5, 1913.

MS 5J @Mom @51j m3 MMM/1 F. HEDLEY I 1. S. DOYLE.

SAFETY LIFE GUARD ATTACHMENT FOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY s. Isla.

1,210,935. Pmnfed Jan. 2, Ism'.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' fl.' z `p I 8 36 a /7 22 5j/gf f j 2/ 67 1,' 'A' 5 II.y ya# 3 54- 29 jJZ Y @Macaw/Ms www WC I @Mn/,qxd 35M@ f www,

F. HEDLEY J. S. DOYLE.

SAFETY LIFE GUARD ATTACHMENT FOR CARS.

APPLlc'AnoN FILED MAY 5. 1913.

1,210,935. Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

FFQ.

FRANK HEDLEY, OF YONKERS, AND JAMES S. DOYLE, OF MIOUNT VERNON, NEWYORK.

SAFETY LIFE-GUARD' ATTACHMENT FOR CARS.

Application ledMay 5, 1913.

T 0 all whom it may concern. y

Be it known that we, FRANK HEDLEY and JAMns S. Dormi, both citizens ofthe United States, and residents, respectively, of Yonkers and MountVernon, in the county of Westchester, State of New York, have made acertain new and useful invention in Safety Life-Guard Attachments forCars, of which the following is a specification.

rllhis invention relates to safety life guard attachments for cars.

rlhe object of the invention is to provide means which are simple inconstruction and eiiicient in operation, for guarding against injury topedestrians or others by reason of street or other cars striking orrunning them down.

A further object is to provide a life guard of the nature and characterreferred to which when in normal retracted position is in such closeproximity to the ground as to insure the pickinO' up of an object beforeit in case it is tripped for use.

A further object is to provide means whereby when the guard device istripped the car propelling motor is arrested and the brakes are applied.

A further object is to provide means under the contr l of the motormanfor tripping the guard.

@ther objects of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter.

The invention consists substantially in the construction, combination,location and relative arrangement of parts, all as will be more fullyhereinafter set forth, as shown in the accompanying' drawings, andfinally pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, and to the various views andreference numerals appearing thereon, Figure 1 is a top plan view of aportion of the front end of a. car showing the application thereto ofarrangement of life guard or safety attachment, embodying the principlesof our invention. Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section on the line 2, 2,Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 3 is a brokendetail view in vertical section on the line 8, 3, Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of the arrows. F ig. 4: is a similar view in horizontalsection on the line ll, 4, Fig. 3, looking in the direction of thearrows. Fig. 5 is a similar view in vertical section on the line 5, 5,Fig.

` Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 2, 1917.Y

Serial No. 765,455.

1, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 6 is a broken detailview in vertical transverse section on the line 6, 6, Fig. 7, looking inthe direction of the arrows. Fig. 7 is a similar view in horizontalsection on the line 7 7, Fig. 6, looking in the direction of the arrows.Fig. 8 is a similar view in vertical longitudinal section, on a somewhatlarger scale, on the line 8, 8, Fig. 7, looking in the direction of thearrows. Fig. 9 is a view in diagram showing the relation of the combinedelectric and pneumatic 'control tripping arrangement.

The same part is designated by the same reference numeral wherever itoccurs throughout the several views.

In the drawings 10 designates the front end of a street car upon whichis carried the usual controller stand. 11. A frame member, indicated at12, and formed into bow shape, is supported at its ends upon struts 13,extending forwardly from the front truck of the car, a portion of whichtruck is shown at 14. The frame member 12, is located beneath the frontend of the car and projects forwardly somewhat beyond the end of thecar, as most clearly shown in Fig. 2. The side portions of the framemember 12, are connected together by means of cross bars 15, 16. Securedto the under surface of the cross bar 15 are flanged brackets 17, havingopenings through the depending flange portion thereof, and rods 18, 19are mounted to slide freely endwise and longitudinally of thek 'thefront portion of the frame member 12.

it their forwardly projecting ends the rods 18, 19 carry a transverselyextending buffer bar 21. Suitably arranged springs 22, 23 serve toyieldingly maintain the buer bar, or the rods 18, 19, which carry saidbar thrust forwardly whereby in case of collision with any obstacle inthe path of the car the buffer bar is forced yieldingly rearwardly,thereby taking up the shock of the collision. In suitable brackets 241,depending from the frame member 12, is ournaled a rock shaft 25, whichextends transversely across and beneath the frame member 12. Mounted onrock shaft 25, is a collar 26, having a toe portion 27 which extendsforwardly from said shaft and engages under- Vneath the depending flangeportion 20, of

and forth upon the shaft25, and extending downwardly into closeproximity to the ground serves as a trip for said shaft'in case Vofcollision with an obstacle in its path.

rllhus, in case the buffer bar 2l, when it strikes an obstacle, such,for instance as a pedestrian and knocks the person down, the danger isavoided of the victim being run over by the car without first coming incontact with the gate 29, thereby rocking the latter' backwardlyunderneath the front end of the car. The same result is accomplished incase of collision with an object, Vsuch as a child or a person lying onthe street in front of the car and not of suflicient height to encounterthe buffer bar 21. Fastened to rock with shaft 25, are collars 30,having depending arms 31, see Fig. 6, which engage behind the gate 29,so that whenever said gate is rocked backwardly underneath the front endof the car, the shaft 25 is also rocked in its bearings 24. Mounted onshaft 2.5 to rock therewith are crank arms 32, 33. Preferably these armsare in angular relation to each other, the arm 32 normally extendingdownwardly while the arm 33, normally extends horizontally, orsubstantiallyso, and rearwardly so that when the shaft 25 is rocked bythe rearward swing of the gate 29, or otherwise, the crank arm 32 willexert a rearwardly pushing action while the arm 33 will exert acoincident forwardly pulling action. Pivotally connected to the arm 32is a rod 34, which extends rearwardly underneath the front end of thecar and at its rear end it carries a pin 35, see Fig. 3, which works inan elongated slot 36, formed in the rear end of rod 13. When the partsare in their normal position the pin 35 bears against the forward limitwallof slot 36. With this arrangement the rod 13 cannot be shiftedendwise rearwardly without also causing rod 34 to be pulled rearwardly,thereby rocking shaft 25, but said shaft can be rocked and the rod 34projected endwiseV rearwardly without causing any movement of the rod 13or buffer bar 21. The Vforward end of a rod 37 is pivotally connected tothe crank arm 33, the rear end of said rod being pivotally connected toan arm 33 mounted on a shaft 39, see Fig. 2, which-carries a forwardlyextending life guard 40. The shaft 39 is journaled in bearings formed inbrackets 41,'carried by the truck frame. 1f desired, a spring 42, may beconnected to the arm 33, and exert its tension normally ate in the'casing 49.

posed between the piston and the end of the wise, the front edge of lifeguard 40 is lowered so as to pick up any obstacle that might pass beieath the front end of the car.

Pivotally lmounted upon a bracket 43, which 1s bolted to the crossbeamer member l5, is a double crank 44, one arm of j which is arrangedto engage in front of the upturned end 45, of rod 34, while the otherarm of saidv double crank is arranged toengage in front of a piston rod46', 'which extends through the front end of a cylinder 47.Communicating with the rear end of cylinder 47, is a pipe 43. This pipeis in communication with an emergency valve casing 49, on one side of apartition or diaphragm 50. Connnunicating with said casing on the otherside of said partition/is a pipe 51, which is connected to a source ofpenumatic or steam pressure, such asthe main or other reservoir, or theemergency brake pressure supply pipe system of the car. The partition ordiaphragm 50 has an opening therethrough forming a valve seat to receivea valve 6l, connectedl to or forming a part of a piston 62, arranged tooper- A spring 63, intercasing supplemented4 by pressure -mediumadmitted to the space occupied by the spring through a small duct64 inthe piston and valve from the pipe 51, serves to normally maintain thevalve seated andv communication shut olf between the pipes 51 and 43.

`When the pressure in the casing above the' piston G2 is exhausted thepiston and valve are raised by the pressure below the portion 50 actingon the lower face of the valve, thereby unseating the valve and placingthe pipes 5l and 43 in communication with each other, thereby operatingthe piston in cylinder 47, and causing the rod 46, thereof to rock lever44, and ,hence causing the trip- A ing gate 29 to be rocked, the lifeguard 40 to be lowered, and the shaft 25 to be rocked.

The provision of the emergency Vvalve de- 'ice above described permits adesirable con-Y trol" to be effected bythe tripping of the life guardv40, and this control is accomplished by controlling the exhaust ofpressure from the emergency valvecasing above the piston valve 62, 61.This exhaust in accordance with eur invention, may be eHected in,Y

variousY ways, and either automatically or manually. le have shown bothmethods.

t is also desirable that coincidently with the tripping of the lifeguard, whether accomplished automatically or by manual control, the carpropelling motor should be arrested and the car brake mechanism appliedin order to more thoroughly provide against serious injury in case of anaccident and as a life saving precaution. In accordance with ourinvention we propose to accomplish both these results, and we will nowdescribe means for accomplishing the same.

Communicating with the emergency valve casingf49, above the piston 62,therein is a pipe 65, which communicates with a pilot valve deviceindicated generally at 66, and also through a branch connection 67, withan electro pneumatic valve device indicated generally at 68. The pilotvalve device 66, includes a casing in which operates a valve 69, whichcontrols a communication to the atmosphere. The valve 69 is normally butyieldingly held seated to close the passage to the atmosphere and meansare provided which are under the control of the motorman for unseatingsaid valve at will. By the unsea'ting of this valve the pressure in theemergency valve casing 49 above the piston 62, therein is exhaustedthereby causing the pipes 48 and 5l to be brought into communicationwith each other' and this, as above explained, operates the piston incylinder 47 and trips the life guard 40.

The pilot valve 69, may be operated in many different ways. `We haveshown a simple arrangement on which the control of the operation of thepilot valve is effected by the mere act of the motorman releasing hisgrip on his controller handle. In this arrangement the stem of valve 69is engaged by one end of a pivoted lever 70, the other end of said leverbeing arranged in the path of a collar 71, carried on the shaft 72 ofthe master controller 73. A spring 77 is arranged to normally move thecollar 71, on shaft 72, so as to engage and rock the lever 70, to unseatvalve 69. rlhe handle 74 of the master controller shaft is provided witha movable member, such as a push button 75, which is depressed when themotorman grasps the handleto operate the controller. The movement ofthis button, operating through a suitablearrangement of levers, or otherdevices, indicated at 76, depresses the collar 7l, out of the path ofthe pilot valve operating' lever 70, and thereupon the valve 69 becomesseated. rPhe instant, however the motorman releases his grip on thecontrol handle 74, the button 75 is released and therefore the spring77, shifts the collar and causes it to engage lever and to unseat thepilot valve 69, thereby causing the life guard 4G to be released. 0fcourse it will be understood that where the pipe 51 connects with theemergency pipe of the brake system the brakes will be set the instantthe pressure in said emergency pipe system is reduced so as to secure abraking action on the car coincidently with the tripping of the lifeguard. One arrangement for accomplishing this is shown wherein ataconvenient point in its length the cylinder 47 is provided with anexhaust opening indicated at 78. As soon as the piston 79, in saidcylinder has moved sufficiently to effect the tripping` of the lifeguard, as above explained, it uncovers the port 78, and this permits anescape of pressure from pipe 51, through the emergency valve casing 49,pipe 48, cylinder 47, and escape opening 78, thereby'reducing thepressure in the emergency pipe system 5l, which effects the applicationof the brakes in a well understood manner.

1n order to secure the application of the brake system coincidently withthe tripping of the life guard 40, when the latter is tripped by anobstruction striking the gate 29, we provide the electropneumatic valvedevice 68. This includes a solenoid 80, which acts on a valve 8l, tounseat the same when the solenoid coil is energized. This valve which isnormally seated, controls a port which, when open, opens communicationbetween the branch pipe 67, and an escape pipe 82, to the atmosphere.With this arrangement whenever the valve 81 is unseated, the pressure inthe emergency valve casing 49, above the piston 62 escapes through thepipe 65, branch 67, the port controlled by valve 8l and escape pipe 82.The result is the application of the brake mechanism and the tripping ofthe life guard 40 in the manner above described with reference to theoperation of pilot valve 69, and this occurs whenever the circuit of thesolenoid coil is completed. A simple arrangement is shown for completingthe circuit of the solenoid coil, wherein an insulated conducting strip57, is mounted on shaft 25, and which, when said shaft is rocked by theswinging movement of the gate 29, as, for instance, when a prostratebody or other obstruction in its path is encountered, said gate isbrought into position to complete electrical connection between twocontact fingers 55, 56. Under normal conditions, with the gate 29hanging vertically, circuit is broken between the lingers 55, 56, butwhen shaft 25 is rocked, as explained, the fingers 55, 56, contact withstrip 57, and an electric circuit is completed from trolley or othersupply through wire 83, wire 84, linger 56, strip 57, nger 55, wire 85solenoid coil 80, to ground at 86, with the resulting operations oftripping the life guard 40 and applying the brakes, all as aboveexplained, and these operations are independent of and additional to theoperation of the pilot valve 66.

As above indicated, in order to secure a greater degree of safety ofoperation of street cars, and to minimize the danger resulting' fromcollision of the car with pedestrians, it is desirable to shut off powerfrom the car propelling motor coincidently with the tripping of the lifeguard,*no matter how the tripping ofthe guardmay be accomplished.

vWe have shown a simplel arrangement for accomplishing the desiredresults in which the shaft 25 is provided with an insulated conductingstrip 58, with which coperates contact fingers 59, 60. Under normalconditions the fingers are in contact with said strip. Vhen the shaft 25is rocked the circuit is broken between said lingers.v With the parts innormal position circuit is completed from trolley or other sourcethrough wire 87, the controller, when in running position, Wire 88,finger' 60, strip V58, finger 59, wire 89, the coils 90 of a line switchoperating device, to ground at 91. When this circuit is completed theline switch is operated to close circuit from trolley or other source,through wire 83, wire 92, line switch 93, wire 94, motors 95, ground at96, Of course when the controller is in o position the circuit of lineswitch operating device 90 is broken and the motors are cut out. Nowwhen shaft 25v is rocked the strip 58 is carried out of contact withfingers 60, 59, thereby breaking the circuit of the line switchoperating device 90 and hence cutting out the motors.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that we provide a mostefficient life saving apparatus for use in connection with life guards,wherein the life guard is tripped automatically by a gate or'by manuallycontrolled devices, and the brakes are `applied and power shut off fromthe motors coincidently with the tripping of the life guard. It willalso be seen that not only is the life gua-rd but also its tripping gatesupported upon the car truck. By supporting the tripping gate upon thetruck instead of the car body, it is Vnot subjected to the range ofvertical vibration to which acar body is subjected and which might atthe instant of V.an emergency cause the tripping gate to be raised sohigh above the surface of the roadway as to permit the body of a child,for instance, to pass underneath it without causing it to perform itstripping function, thereby resulting in a fatality. The truck on theother hand, is not subjected to the same extent of vertical vibration asthe car body, and consequently, the danger of failure of the gate tooperate under all condias employed in connection with a street car,

it is obvious that we are not confined or restricted in thisconnectionsince the safety provisions of the apparatus shown and de-Vreadily occur to persons skilled in the art 1 and still fall withinthespirit and scope` of our invention, as defined in ythe claims.

Having no-w set forth the objects and nature of our invention, and theconstruction Y embodying the principlesV thereof, what we claim as newand usefull and of our owninvention and desire to secure by LettersPatent is: l Y

1. The combination with a car body and a supporting truck therefor,'of alife guard pivotally mounted on the truck, a tripping gate therefor, ahorizontally acting bumper bar and means actuated by the operation ofsaid bumper bar for swinging said gate to trip said guard.

2. The combination with a car body and a supporting truck therefor, of alife guard pivotally mounted on the truck, a tripping gate therefor, ayieldingly mounted bumper bar and means operated by the yieldingmovements of the bumper bar for swinging said gate to trip said guard.

3. The combination with a car body and a supporting trucl therefor, of alife guard pivotally mounted on the truck, a tripping gate therefor, ayieldingly mounted bumper bar, and meansoperated by the yieldingmovements of the bumper bar for swinging said gate to trip said guard,said gate being' mounted for swinging movement independently of thebumper bar.

4. The combination with a car body and a supporting truck therefor of alife guard pivotally supported upon said truck, a tripping gatetherefor, a yieldingly mounted bumper bar'having a slotted rod, and anarm connectedto said gate and engaging in the slot of said rod. Y

5. 1n a safety apparatus for cars, a life guard, a tripping mechanismtherefor, a piston for operating said tripping mechanism, and means forcoincidently operating said piston and opening the circuit to the carpropelling motor.

6. In a safety apparatus for cars, a life guard, a tripping mechanismtherefor, a piston for operating said tripping mechanism, and means forcoincidently operating the piston, opening the circuit to the carpropelling motor, and applying the car brakes.

7. In a safety apparatus for cars, a life guard, means for tripping thesame, an emergency valve to control the tripping means, a pilot valve tocontrol said emergency valve, and means under the control of themotorman for operating the pilot valve.

8. In a safety apparatus for cars, a life guard, means for tripping thesame, an emergency valve to control the tripping means, a normallyseated pilot valve to control said emergency valve, and means under thecontrol of the motorman for unseating said pilot valve.

9. In a safety apparatus for cars, a life guard, means for tripping thesame, an emergency valve to control the tripping means, a pilot valve tocontrol the emergency valve, a car mot-or controller and its handle andmeans associated with said handle for operating said pilot valve.

10. 1n a safety apparatus for cars, a life guard, means for tripping thesame, an emergency valve to control the tripping means, a pilot valvefor controlling the emergency valve, and means operative by the trippingof the guard for independently controlling the emergency valve.

ll. ln a safety apparatus for cars, a life guard, means for tripping thesame, an emergency valve to control the tripping means, a brake pressurerelease pipe also controlled by said emergency valve, an electricallyoperated device for controlling said emergency valve, a circuittherefor, and means operated by the tripping of the life guard to closesaid circuit.`

12. In a safety apparatus for cars, a life guard, means for tripping thesame, an emergency valve to control the tripping means, a brake pressurerelease pipe also controlled by said valve, a manually controlled pilotvalve for controlling the emergency valve, and an independentelectrically controlled valve for controlling said emergency valve.

13. 1n a safety apparatus for cars, a car propelling motor a circuit forcontrolling the same having separated contacts, a pivotally mountedfender having a conducting strip thereon for normally closing thecircuit between said contacts, and means for opening the circuit betweensaid contacts when said fender is rocked.

l-t. V:[n a safety apparatus for cars, an electrically controlledpneumatic brake system, a circuit for controlling said brake systemhaving separated contacts, a pivotally mounted fender, and means forclosing the circuit between said contacts when said tender is rocked.

15. in a safety apparatus for cars, a car propelling motor, a circuittherefor, having separated contacts, an electrically operated pneumaticbrake system, a circuit for controlling said brake system havingseparated contacts, a pivotally mounted fender normally closing thecircuit between said contacts, and means for closing the circuit betweenthe contacts of the brake control circuit and for coincidently openingthe circuit between the contacts of the motor controlling circuit whensaid 4fender is rocked.

ln testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence ofthe subscribing witnesses, on this 22nd day of April A. D., 1913.

FRANK HEDLEY. JAMES S. DOYLE. lNitnesses:

S. E. DARBY, G. A. MGGRATH.

V Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the "Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

